Wheelset - 01

HUBSET:
Maillard 700 Professional (Team Issue) - quick release hubs - small flange design - Clear anodized aluminum alloy bodies with integrated flanges - traditional cup and cone design / 3/16" or 4.76 mm ball bearings without retainers - 36h front hub (100 mm spacing) - 36h rear hub (126 mm spacing) - 1.370" x 24 TPI English freewheel thread - model 700 Professional (Team Issue) : Simplex - curved handle quick release mechanisms - chrome plated steel end caps - post 1974 and pre 1980 matte chrome plated "ribbed" lever arms marked "SIMPLEX" and "MADE IN FRANCE" - post 1974 Black DuPont Delrin "winged" knurled adjusters with stylized "SIMPLEX" logo - model SX 3607 ... [Whereas previous editions of Peugeot’s various PY-10 models came fitted with a not oft seen these days Perrin-Maillard labeled hubset, 1978 examples were generally equipped with Maillard 700 Professional (Team Issue) hubs. The original incarnation of these debuted within the pro peloton at the beginning of the 1973 season and were actually the byproduct of a joint effort involving two competing French firms with their design being primarily attributable to Ets Perrin & Courson of Boen near St. Etienne (...the principals behind the ExcelToo and Pelissier brands) and the production execution by dint of their holding pertinent manufacturing patents to M. Maillard of Incheville on the north coast near Dieppe (...parent company of the Atom, Normandy, and Maillard brands). Consequently, the first edition of these hubs offered to both professional teams as well as the general public featured a Perrin-Maillard label, a convention which continued in the domestic French market through the year 1977. However, internationally these very same parts were more commonly marketed under the Maillard brand as 700 Professional (Team Issue), and in the case of private label versions affixed to the Peugeot PX-10 LE starting in 1974, they were designated Peugeot Trophy (Professional Team by Maillard). By 1978 though, the five year marketing agreement between the two firms expired, and with it, the Perrin-Maillard label too passed into history. Regardless of label, the hubs themselves were based upon identical castings to the proletarian Normandy Luxe, yet incorporating important upgrades that put them on par with contemporary offerings from Campagnolo such as the use of heavy duty ball bearings (...3/16" bearings versus the smaller 5/32" versions used in the Normandy units) and precision ground cup and cone surfaces crafted from high tensile strength chromium steel. With respect to custom made PY-10 CP bicycles, potential buyers were asked to specify their choice of small or large flange hubs (...Peugeot-Esso-Michelin team bikes of this era generally used small flange hubs excepting for criterium or time trial competitions, in which case large flange hubs were the norm) as well as a preference for either standard French metric or optional English / BSA threading on the rear hub as part of their purchase order.]

RIMS:
MAVIC MA 2 (purposefully mis-labeled) - double wall construction - anodized aluminum alloy with stainless steel double eyelets - 20.5 mm section - hooked bead rim profile - smooth / non-milled braking surfaces - 700c clincher - drilled for Presta valves - 36h front / 36h rear - original MAVIC MA 2 rim labels removed and reproduction labels apropos Super Champion Record du Monde rims applied - primary oval foil rim label in Red consisting of the word "COMPETITON" in Black against a thin Silver background bisecting a stylized "SUPER CHAMPION" logo in Gold atop the words "MADE IN FRANCE" in Black located at the seam - secondary rim decal having vertical CdM colored stripes juxtaposed to the left of a White field with Black letters reading "RECORD DU MONDE" - model MA 2 re-labeled as Record du Monde ... [Consistent with the notion of their being sold to the public at large on a strictly limited and custom order only basis as something of an atelier offering, the Peugeot PY-10 CP model for 1978 was made available having a choice of either 310 gram standard duty Super Champion Record du Monde tubular rims (....far and away the most typical selection), lightweight 260 gram Super Champion Medaille d’or tubular rims, or MAVIC Module E2 clincher rims which were thought at the time to be more suitable for touring applications (...one could actually configure their PY-10 not as a road racer, but rather, as a sport touring model - and in fact that is exactly what RAAM founder John Marino did with Cycles Peugeot sponsorship when he upgraded from his PX-10 LE). In the intervening years since this bike was sold new, however, rim and even more so tire technology has changed dramatically, and I now prefer to mount a set of clincher rims here primarily because I find them to be more suitable for my current riding circumstance. Still, I did not want to stray too far afield from a vintage aesthetic reasonably consistent with what one would expect to find on a Peugeot PY-10 CP dating from 1978. Ultimately I decided to take a matched pair of MAVIC MA 2 rims without the UB Control braking surface found on later examples, remove their proper rim labels, and then replace those with reproduction Super Champion Record du Monde decals (...said reproductions being the handiwork of Greg Softley of Coffs Harbor, Australia). While I readily acknowledge that such a slight of hand smacks of outright deception, my actions are certainly not fraught with malicious intent nor do I make any presumption that the cognoscenti would be so easily mislead (...most especially when I am willing to readily acknowledge any modest attempt at forgery). Of course, the MA 2 (...which debuted in 1986) has a well deserved reputation for being one of the finest classic clincher rims ever produced - remarkably rugged and durable while being able to accommodate tire widths ranging from 19 mm to 25 mm.]

SPOKES:
DT Swiss - CFT butted X12 CrNi 18/10 stainless steel - double cold forged - 14 / 17 gauge or 2.0 / 1.4 / 2.0 mm - rolled threads - model DT Revolution : DT nickel plated brass nipples - 2.0 x 14 mm - model DT Pro Head ... [Decidedly modern and unoriginal components, to be sure - used in substitution for what would have originally been 15 / 17 gauge Robergel Sport 144 zinc plated stainless steel spokes. However, consistent with what would have been original specification for this bike (...as well as that of almost every other PY-10 CP of similar vintage) these spokes have been tied at their crossings with copper bee keeper’s wire but NOT soldered in place (...same number of loops, same wrapping pattern, same 0.4 mm sized copper wire - as authentically close as I could come to matching "factory original" in an admittedly aftermarket replication).]

TIRES:
Vittoria Open Corsa EVO SC - 700c x 23 mm - 320 TPI core spun cotton / poly casing - Black with Gum sidewalls - open tubular (i.e. clincher) design - variegated latex rubber compound - Twin Tread pattern (...hard durometer linear ribbed center section for high rolling resistance with softer structure IsoGrip herringbone flanks to optimize cornering traction) - puncture resistant PRB 2.0 high density Aramid fiber belt - folding bead - model Open Corsa EVO SC (Servizio Corse) ... [As of this writing in July of 2011, these are the very latest in premium racing clinchers from Vittoria. And while they may have something of a vintage aesthetic (...excepting, perhaps, their label), they are obviously modern replacements for those tires which would have been fitted from new on a 1978 Peugeot PY-10 CP. Inasmuch as said bikes originally came with Super Champion tubular rims by default, it would have been Peugeot Professional labeled tubulars that were the norm - that is unless a customer were to have specified the optional MAVIC Module E2 rims, in which case, their PY-10 CP would have consequently come equipped with Michelin Elan clinchers.]